Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-02-02
Meantime the subject of these criticisms

ly DuCCOHeQ up III ueT SnOTG jacket. ono naO
driven back her dog Spot-another one Of her
aisilusions, who, giving way to his lower
nature, had once killed sheep-as she did
not wish her Jacques-like contemplation Of
any wounded deer to be inconsistently inter-
rupted by fresh outrage from her COM
panion. Tho air was really very chilly, and
for the first time in her mountain experience
the direct rays Of the sun seemed to be shorn
of their power. This compelled her to walk
more briskly than she was conscious Of, for
in less than an hour she came suddenly and
breathlessly upon the mouth of the canyon or
natural gateway to Eagles Court.
To her always u profound spectacle Of
mountain magniflcence, it seemed to-day al
most terrible in its cold, strong grandeur.
The narrowing pass was choked for a mo.
ment between two gigantic buttresses OF
granite, approaching each other so closely at
their towering SUBMITS that trees growing
in opposite clefts Of the rocks intermingled
their branches and pointed the soaring
Gothic arch Of stupendous gateway. She
raised her eyes with quickly beating heart.
She knew that the interlacing trees above
her were rs large as those she had just quit
ted; she knew also that the point where they
met was only half way up the cliff, for she
had once gazed down upon them, dwindled
to shrubs from the airy summit; she knew
that their shaken cones fell q thousand feet
perpendicularly, or bounded like shot from
the Scared walls they bombarded. She re-
membered that one Of these pines, dislodged
from its high foundations, had once dropped
like portcullis in the archway, blocking the
pass, and was only carried afterward by as
sault of steel and fire. Bending her head
mechanically, she ran swiftly through the
shadowy passage, and halted only at the be-
ginning of the ascent on the other side.
1t was here that the actual position Of the
plateau, so indefinite Of approach, began to
be realized. 1t now appeared an independent
elevation, surrounded on three sides by
gorges and water courses, so narrow as to be
overlooked from the principal mountain
range, with which it was connected by a long
canyon that led to the ridge. At the outlet
of this canyon-in bygone ages mighty
river-it had the appearance Of having been
slowly raised by the diluvium of that river,
and the debris washed down from above-a
suggestion repeated in miniature by the arti-
fetal plateaus Of excavated soil raised before
the mouth Of mining tunnels in the lower
fanks Of the mountain. 1t was the realiZa-
tion of fact-often forgotten by the dwell
ers in Eagles Court-that the valley below
them, which was their connecting link with
the surrounding world, was only reached by
ascending the mountain, and TIE nearest road
was over the higher mountain ridge Never
before had that impressed itself so strongly
upon the young girl as when she turned that
morning to look upon the plateau below her.
1t seemed to illustrate the conviction that
had been slowly shaping itself ,ut Of her re-
flections OH the conversation of that morning.
1t was possible that the perfect understanding
Of q higher life was only reached from
height still greater, and that to those half
way up the mountain the summit was never
dwellers in the valley.
I do not know that these profound truths
prevented her from gathering some quaint
ferns and berries, or from keeping her'calm
gray eyes open to certain practical changes
that were taking place around her. She had
noticed singular thickening in the atmos-
phere that seemed to prevent the passage OF
the suns rays, yet without diminishing the
transparent quality of the air. The distant
snow peaks were as plainly seen, though they
appeared as if in moonlight. This seemed
due to no cloud or mist, but rather to fad
ing of the sun itself. The occasional furry
of wings overhead, the whirling Of larger
birds in the cover, and frequent rustling in
the underground, as Of the passage of some
stealtby animal, began equally to attract her
attention. 1t was so different from the ha-
bitual silence Of these sedate solitudes. Kate
had no vague fear Of wild beasts; she had
been long enough O mountaineer to under
stand the general immunity enjoyed by the
unmolesting wayfarer, and kept her way un-
dismayed She was descending an abrupt
trail when she was stopped by sudden crash
in the bushes. 1t seemed to come from the
opposite incline, directly in line with her,
and apparently on the very trail that she
was pursuing. The crash was then repeated
again and again lower down, as Of descend
ing body. Expecting the apparition Of some
fallen tree, or detached bowlder bursting
through the thicket, in its way to the bottom
of the gulch, she waited. The foliage was
suddenly brushed aside, and large grizzly
bear half rolled, half waddled, into the trail
OIL the opposite side Of the hill. A few mo-
ments more would have brought them face
to face at the foot Of the gulch; when she
stopped there were not fifty yards between
them.
She did not scream; she did not faint; she
was not even frightened. There did not seem
to be anything terrifying in this huge, stupid
beast, who, arrested by the rustic of stone
displaced by her descending feet rose slowly
on his launches and gazed at her with small,
wondering eyes Nor did it seem strange to
her, seeing that he was in her way, to pick up
stone throw it in his direction and say SIM
ply, "Sho! get awayl" as she would have done
to an intrudng COW. Nor did it seem odd
that he should actually Ego away" as lie did.
scrambling back into the bushes again and
disappearing like some grotesque figure in
transformation scene. 1t was not until after
he had gone that she was taken with slight
nervousness and giddiness, and retraced her
steps somewhat hurriedly, shying a little at
every rustic in the thicket. BY the time she
had reached the great gateway she was
doubtful whether to be pleased or frightened
at the incident, but she concluded to keep it
to herself
1t was still intensely cold. The light of the
midday sun had decreased still more, and on
reaching the plateau again she saw that
dark cloud. not unlike the precursor of a
thunder storm, was brooding over the snowy
peaks beyond. In spite Of the cold this sim
gular suggestion of summer phenomena was
still borne out by the distant smiling valley,
and even in the soft grasses at her feet 1t
seemed to her the crowning inconsistency OF
tue climate, and with q half serious, half
playful protest on her lips sho hurried for
ward to sccl; the shelter Of the house.
FRO BE CONTINUED.
EcX1rXW1
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